FIFA issue warning over food supplements

FIFA’s anti-doping chief yesterday warned players and national teams to avoid taking muscle-boosting food supplements as they may be unwittingly consuming banned drugs.

Dr Jiri Dvorak, FIFA’s chief medical officer, said many over-the-counter products did not say on the packaging that they contain substances such as the steroid nandrolone.

Several players have fallen victim to this in the past; Dutch players Jaap Stam, Frank de Boer and Edgar Davids all tested positive for nandrolone and blamed it on supplements.

Dvorak said: ‘‘There are hundreds of products on the market which do not declare substances in their product. Food supplements in the US are not forced or obliged to declare everything which is in the supplement and this is a big pitfall.

‘‘We have identified a number of products containing nandrolone but which is not declared on the package and all we can do is issue a warning not to use across-the-counter food supplements as they might be contaminated.’’

However, doping has not been a big problem at World Cups in the past and only one player has ever tested positive during finals and that was Diego Maradona, in USA 94, who was found to have taken ephedrine.

Some countries, such as France, do detailed chemical analysis of all substances given to players while Portugal make sure they only use products where all ingredients are declared.

FIFA has brought in blood tests for the first time for this tournament to make sure players do not use banned substances such as EPO, which boosts the number of red blood cells which carry oxygen to the muscles.

Two players from each team, drawn at random, have urine and blood tests after every match.